4.  Ms Aleksandra Nikolayevna Girya was born in 1954. Ms Anna Filipovna Seroshtan was born in 1946. Ms Yuliya Trofimovna Butenko was born in 1941. Ms Svetlana Aleksandrovna Tur was born in 1960. Mr Nikolay Grigoryevich Kovalenko was born in 1945. Ms Raisa Yefimovna Kovalenko was born in 1946. Mr Vitaliy Vasilyevich Stasyuk was born in 1980. Ms Tatyana Ivanovna Stasyuk was born in 1961. Ms Nina Vasilyevna Plavshuk was born in 1948. Ms Svetlana Grigoryevna Denisenko was born in 1960. Ms Nadezhda Ivanovna Glushchenko was born in 1959. Ms Lyubov Ivanovna Shevchenko was born in 1950. All the applicants live in the village of Kovshrovka, Kharkiv region.
5.  Between 1996 and 2001 the applicants instituted separate sets of proceedings in the Kupyansk Court and the labour disputes commission (hereafter “the Commission”), seeking the recovery of salary arrears and other payments, against their former employer, the Joint Stock Company “Kupyanskyi Liteinyi Zavod” (hereafter “the Company”), in which the State held about 41% of the share capital.
6.  Ms Aleksandra Nikolayevna Girya was awarded a total of UAH 2,764.78 in salary arrears and compensation for moral damage (decisions of the Commission of 3 September 1997 and 25 September 2000 and judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 25 May 2001). The decisions remain largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,863 (the equivalent of EUR 264.72).
7.  Ms Anna Filipovna Seroshtan was awarded a total of UAH 2074.83 in salary arrears (decisions of the Commission given in 1997 and judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 13 August 2001). The decisions remain largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,590 (the equivalent of EUR 226.54).
8.  Ms Yuliya Trofimovna Butenko was awarded UAH 1,598 (the equivalent of EUR 227.70) in salary arrears (decision of the Commission of 5 March 2001). The decision remains unenforced.
9.  Ms Svetlana Aleksandrovna Tur was awarded UAH 1,039 (the equivalent of EUR 148.05) in salary arrears (decision of the Commission given in 1997). The decision remains unenforced.
10.  Mr Nikolay Grigoryevich Kovalenko was awarded a total of UAH 2,413.45 in salary arrears and compensation for moral damage (judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 3 July 2001). The judgment remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,159 (the equivalent of EUR 165.15).
11.  Ms Raisa Yefimovna Kovalenko was awarded a total of UAH 3,735.95 in salary arrears (judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 24 May 2001). The judgment remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 2,220 (the equivalent of EUR 316.31).
12.  Mr Vitaliy Vasilyevich Stasyuk was awarded a total of UAH 1,543.90 in salary arrears and compensation for delay in payment of the salary (judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 6 June 2001). The judgment remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,236 (the equivalent of EUR 176.11).
13.  Ms Tatyana Ivanovna Stasyuk was awarded a total of UAH 2,876.04 in salary arrears and compensation for moral damage (judgment of the Kupyansk Court of 6 June 2001). The judgment remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,613 (the equivalent of EUR 229.82).
14.  Ms Nina Vasilyevna Plavshuk was awarded UAH 946 (the equivalent of EUR 134.78) in salary arrears (decision of the Commission given in 1997). The decision remains unenforced.
15.  Ms Svetlana Grigoryevna Denisenko was awarded a total of UAH 2,888 in salary arrears (decisions of the Commission of 2 September 1997 and 28 October 1999). The decisions remain largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 2,508 (the equivalent of EUR 357.32).
16.  Ms Nadezhda Ivanovna Glushchenko was awarded UAH 910 in salary arrears (decision of the Commission of 5 March 2001). The decision remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 810 (the equivalent of EUR 115.40).
17.  Ms Lyubov Ivanovna Shevchenko was awarded UAH 1,249 in salary arrears (decision of the Commission of 14 October 1999). The decision remains largely unenforced, the outstanding debt being UAH 1,200 (the equivalent of EUR 170.95).
18.  On 2 March 2001 the State Committee of Industrial Policy informed the applicants that the financial situation of the Company was examined by various State authorities. In particular, between 1997 and 1999 the Company was granted State funding for payment of salaries and other social arrears. On 18 and 22 September 2000 the Cabinet of Ministers established a commission made up of representatives from the State Committee of Industrial Policy, the Ministries of Finance, Economics and Labour, the State Property Fund and the Kharkiv Regional State Administration. The development plan prepared by the commission proposed to transfer the Company's non-productive assets to the Kupyansk Municipality and to initiate bankruptcy proceedings with the view to freezing its debts.
19.  According to a letter of the Kupyansk Bailiffs' Service, the funds on the Company's bank accounts were insufficient to pay the sums awarded to the applicants and for this reason a part of the Company's property was attached. However, its forced sale was suspended because of the moratorium on the forced sale of property belonging to State enterprises introduced by the Order of the President of Ukraine of 23 May 2001.
20.  When on 8 May 2001 the Kharkiv Commercial Court instituted bankruptcy proceedings against the Company, the Kupyansk Bailiffs' Service suspended the enforcement proceedings.